Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold

I had a hard time rating this one. On the one had I felt like the writing could have used some polishing, the short chapters really broke up the flow of the story, the main characters inner monologue worked sometimes, but I felt it was overdone at other times, and as others have mentioned, Kitty's voice seems a bit young for her age. Having said that, I really, really, really enjoyed a young main character that was upbeat, happy, adventurous without the need for some sappy love interest (or two) to drive her forward. She was fun and inspiring and I wish there were more like her in YA fiction. I also really enjoyed the history and the whole premise of the story as a whole. It certainly made me even more interested in visiting Alaska and the Yukon and the mystery and intrigue that surrounds the stolen gold was a fun reveal and unexpected.
So overall I felt like I did enjoy it, despite my quibbles about the writing and that's why I felt in deserved 4 stars instead of 3. I also looked forward to the next book, which is a good sign. I'm actually excited to follow Kitty on another adventure.
I truly wish there was more YA like this...it was refreshing to have an upbeat story that encourages young women to get out and travel, learn history and be independent without the need for a romantic interludes and a guy at the centre of it all. Thank you for that Iain Reading!